US President widens his net, now spouses of H-1B visa-holders with H-4 visa under scanner

The future of H-4 visa workers in limbo, as Trump administration seeks 60-day time to respond to US appeals court

The spouses of H-1B visas, who are employed under a scheme of the former President Obama, are the newest targets for President Donald Trump. On Women’s Day, the US Department of Justice filed a brief in the Washington DC appeals court seeking abeyance of 60 days in the case that involved the authorization for H-4 visa holders to respond to a request lodged by Save Jobs US.

Back in 2015, under the reign of Barack Obama, the administration allowed the spouses of H-1B visa holders to work on H-4 visas. The group called Save Jobs US had claimed that they were displaced by the immigrants and questioned the ruling of Obama in court. But the court soon dismissed it for lack of any substantial proof of the damage caused to them by the H-1B visa holders. After the dawn of a new administration under Donald trump, the group tabled a brief in January 2017 in Washington DC court. The justice department, which was to be headed by Mr Sessions, who is notorious for his impoliteness towards immigrants, responded asking for some time for the new minister to settle in. The future of the H-4 visa holders now hangs in the air, as the Trump administration has proposed to put a stay on the employment authorization of H-4 visa holders for 60 days.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services will suspend the premium proceedings of H-1B visa petition requests for as long as 6 months starting from April 3rd, 2017.

Economic Times reports that the US Attorney general Jeff Sessions while speaking on this issue, said that the H-4 visas have had a negative impact on native Americans and it ‘hurts them.’

Immigration Voice could not simply wait until it was too late to see if the Department of Justice would defend the reasoned decision of the district court dismissing Save Jobs’ complaint,” said Aman Kapoor, co-founder of the group. He also added, “The recent statements from the government present an unacceptable risk for Immigration Voice members that DOJ might decide after 60 days to adopt the position of Save Jobs USA.”